The SCALE consortium, headed by DIFFER, kicked off on Thursday 16 September 2021. DIFFER, together with the TU/e and a number of other parties will investigate a new sustainable approach to generate hydrogen. NWO has awarded SCALE 1.25 M€ of funding to prepare the ground for the next generation of water electrolyzers.
Hydrogen can be produced by water electrolyzers that split water using renewable electricity. The new electrolyzers have the potential to produce green and cost-effective hydrogen to be used by industry and households and as an energy storage medium.
Fundamental questions
Current electrolysis technologies suffer from a number of drawbacks, explains DIFFER group leader Mihalis Tsampas. “They are using scarce and expensive materials and have limited compatibility with wind or solar energy.” Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers are an emerging solution to these issues. But there are fundamental questions on design, materials and scale-up.
Tsampas says: “The limitations of these systems under conditions closer to practice are still unknown. SCALE will investigate exactly that. Within DIFFER, we will focus on the design and development of novel electrode architectures and prototypes.”
Project consortium
Academic partners of SCALE are DIFFER, TU/e and FONTYS. Co-funders are ISPT, Syngaschem BV, VSPARTICLE and Veco Precision. Toyota Motor Europe and FORTH institute are international cooperation partners.
More information
Dr. Mihalis Tsampas, head of the DIFFER research group Catalytic and Electrochemical Processes for Energy Applications (CEPEA).
The NWO NWA programme Electrochemical Conversion and Materials (ECCM).
News item: DIFFER to lead new consortium on green hydrogen generation
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